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U.S. Department of Energy Solar Report

This month, September 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy released a solar report to the nation. In that report, they highlighted how important solar will be to transition the country to power generated by clean energy sources. The report highlights that “solar, our cheapest and fastest-growing source of clean energy, could produce enough electricity to power all of the homes in the U.S. by 2035 and employ as many as 1.5 million people in the process,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

So how do we get there? In 2020 15 gigawatts of solar power were installed in the U.S, with a total output of 76 GW (which accounts for 3% of the power generation). In order to reach the goal of 40% clean power generation by 2035, and 45% by 2050 that is outlined in the study, “the U.S. must install an average of 30 GW of solar capacity per year between now and 2025 and 60 GW per year from 2025-2030.”

These are amazing goals and will be wonderful if they are met. We foresee a couple of challenges that need to be overcome in order to hit them. Right now there is a skilled labor shortage. In order to have skilled electricians to install the solar, the government is going to have to promote clean energy job training programs so we can get a new labor force trained and deployed.

Also, in order to meet the output goal, the study says that .5 % of US land will need to be used. They mention they don’t foresee land being an issue as they can potentially use contaminated land areas, but that is still a considerable amount of ground to cover when you think about the size of the U.S.

The report mentions that expanding rooftop PV will reduce solar land use and that is an important component to hitting these goals. While 200 GW of rooftop PV is deployed in the decarbonization scenarios by 2050 (10%–20% of total solar deployment), the technical potential for U.S. rooftop PV is greater than 1,000 GW, and efforts to promote rooftop PV could increase deployment beyond the modeled level.

If homeowners could transition over to clean power generation with solar panels on their homes, the money saved will be in the hands of everyday homeowner’s rather than in the hands of big corporations that manage these large solar farms.

PV rooftop is a no-brainer for most homeowners as it provides a great ROI in almost all scenarios. If you’re interested in what your ROI might be, and why going solar could be a good fit for you, fill out this form on our website.

SOLAR SOURCE® is a solar contractor based in Southern California that has been in business since 2008. Family-owned, quality and great service are top priorities.